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Friday, February 13, 2009

Free-for-all-Friday: Decorating with your Valentine's flowers!

I love fresh flowers in my house, but keeping them year round can really be a budget buster! I have a close friend that has taught me how to make home arrangements at a fraction of the cost of store bought arrangements AND they last longer.

With Valentine's Day coming up tomorrow, we thought this would be a great time to share these decorating tips for your Valentine's flowers.

I know my husband stops by the grocery every year and brings me flowers that are in a bunch. I like to make those flowers into an arrangement that looks like it cost a fortune (even if it didn't). The best part is it's a way to begin having flowers in your home year round. Just follow these seven easy steps and you, too, can make the most out of your fresh flowers!

1. First, find a vase(s) that you would like to use. Get creative. You can use glasses, pitchers, fish bowls, and many more. My favorite is happens to be a silver caddy from Southern Living. You can also use four small juice glasses to get the same effect.

2. Second, you need greenery. You will find this right outside your door. I try to always have a variety of three different leaves from three different bushes in our yard. Cut some sprigs at all different lengths. This will make the arranging easier.4. Always put the greenery in the container before the flowers.

5. Third, you need flowers.

6. Flowers bought in bunches are usually cut at different heights. This will help you make one clean cut at your desired length. To know your desired length, it will help if you hold the flowers by the vase to see where you would like the flowers to stand lengthwise. Make sure cut the length too high or they will wilt soon.

7. The final step is to insert the flowers evenly through the arrangement and there you go!!! Once you do this a couple of times, you will find it begins just to take minutes.

The arrangement should last you at least a week, but roses do not last as long as mums and some other seasonal flowers. When you see a couple of sad looking flowers, it is time to redo the arrangement. The arrangement pictured below consisted of gerber daisies that outlasted the rest. So I took my Southern Living caddy and cut the greenery and gerbers down. It made a smaller arrangement that lasted another week.

Make sure to look for bargains in the floral sections at your grocery store. I budget $4 every two weeks and keep flowers in the house year round and love it!!!

We would love to post some of your creations!!! If you try this decorating idea, please share your art work by emailing pictures to Imogene at roofwithaview@gmail.com.

Great tips on arranging! I have found, oddly enough, that the flowers from Aldi's (yeah, the discount food store) last longer than any from Target or other grocery stores! AND they only cost about $2.99 per bunch! Also, I was able to get a dozen roses to last 2 weeks longer than they should have one year. :)...once they started to droop, I cut them at the bud and let the blossoms float in a pretty cobalt glass bowl filled with water. VERY nice effect.

Yeah, Ashlie! Thanks for visiting and thank you for your tips. Carolina Clipper (Thrifty Thursday's author) is an avid Aldi shopper. That's where she gets all her staples! I keep saying I need to check it out. I never would have thought they have flowers!

Yes, you've GOT to check out Aldi's for staples. Frozen chicken breasts are ALWAYS cheaper there (like $6?) as opposed to "buy one get one" when the bag is $12 at Food Lion! They also carry nice specialty items...though if you like them, you may not be able to find them there next time...so stock up! And if you plan to use produce within a couple days, you can't beat their prices. I still shop other stores for other things, but when I can, I try Aldi's first.